Weeks 53 and 54
Last Sunday was very busy! We were not able to work on the blog. So, here are two weeks' worth of happenings.
We finally got home around 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday evening.
President Narty, the branch president, asked us a few weeks ago to teach temple preparation classes to several members of the branch so they could receive their own endowments. One of these was Ernestina. We have been meeting with her at her home on Friday afternoons. She had been through a temple preparation class before, but President Narty said she had some questions and was hesitant about going to the temple. We had met with her on Friday, January 10th and then met with her again on the 24th. We also met with her on January 31st, and finished our teaching and discussions. One of the questions she had was about tithing. She had been paying a partial tithe but not a full tithe. She thought that she needed to start paying a full tithing and also catch up all the back tithing that she had not paid before she could go to the temple. We assured her that if she started paying a full tithing and was committed to continuing to do so, then she would be able to go to the temple.
Following district council in Odoben, we drove another half hour farther to Asikuma to delivery some Gospel Literacy books and do training with a new Gospel Literacy teacher and the Sunday School president in the Asikuma Ward.
On Friday (January 31), we had the final temple preparation discussion with Ernestina. We then went and visited John and Helena Gamor. Brother and Sister Gamor are some of the early members of the church in Awutu Breku. Because of health issues, they are no longer able to attend church meetings.
Saturday we helped Sisters Appia and Tavita teach Lizzie, Bernice, and Benedict (recent converts) about the temple and doing baptisms and confirmations for the dead. We went to teach Jessica (scheduled to be baptized on February 9), but she was not at home. Then we taught Michael (a friend of a recent convert) about the Plan of Salvation. Sister Judd had not been feeling well most of Saturday, so we actually excused ourselves from helping any more and went home so Sister Judd could lay down and rest.
The week of January 20th was transfers and arriving and departing missionaries. We also had staff meeting on the Monday afternoon. So we drove to Accra to the mission office on Monday morning and stayed over Monday night and Tuesday night. Tuesday morning we went back to the Art Market to look for more Ghanaian material for our granddaughter's dress. We then went back to the mission office for transfers.
Loading the Tro-tro with suitcases and getting ready to go back out to new assignments
Chatting with missionaries during transfers
Elder Ucheagwu had had a terrible bike accident in October and had to go home to Nigeria to recover. We got the assignment to go to the airport Tuesday afternoon to pick him up as he was returning to the mission. We went to the airport to meet him. We waited about 2 hours, and he did not show up. President Jacobsen finally got in touch with his home bishop who called his family and then called President Jacobsen back telling him that Elder Ucheagwu missed the plane because he thought he should be on the flight on Wednesday not Tuesday! We went back to the airport on Wednesday afternoon to pick up Elder Ucheagwu after our three trips earlier that day to take departing missionaries to the airport.
Elder Ucheagwu after his bike accident, and returning to the mission after recovering at home.
On Tuesday early evening, we and Elder Bertha took Sister Arthur and Elders Abule, Roldan, and Martin to dinner at a Roco Mamas for a gourmet hamburger. Sister Arthur is from Ghana and has been serving in our mission while waiting for her visa to go to Portugal. Her visa had finally come, and she was getting ready to fly to Portugal Tuesday night. Elder Abule's companion had been sick and was at the mission office waiting for a new companion. Elders Martin and Roldan are the tech missionaries.
Dinner at Roco Mamas
Then, Tuesday evening was the departing missionaries devotional.
Departing missionaries (with banners). These are excellent missionaries who will be missed greatly!
We were particularly close to Elder Rockwood and Elder Adams.
Our duty with departing missionaries is to take them to the airport where Sister Judd makes certain they don't have any problems getting checked in, through passport inspection, and through security and explains what they need to do once they get through security. For the African and Polynesian missionaries, the only traveling by airplane is coming to and then leaving from Ghana. A lot of them are nervous about the process and getting through the airport and on the plane, so they very much appreciate Sister Judd being there to help them.
Loading suitcases to take Elders Massissa and Ondongo to the airport.
Thursday afternoon was our usual going with Sisters Lautaimi and Najjuka. One of the visits we did was with Martha and her two daughters, Vivian and Claudia. Vivian and Claudia were baptized a couple of months ago. Martha wanted desperately to also be baptized. However, she and her husband are not married. In Ghana, like most African countries, the tradition is for the man to pay a "bride price" to the woman's family and go through a traditional procedure in order to marry her. Because it is quite expensive for the man to do this, it is common for the man and woman to live together rather than get married. That is the case with Martha and her husband. However, after we visited with them and taught them a new member lesson, we were walking back to the truck, and Martha told Sister Judd that her husband had talked with her family about letting them get married with an affordable "bride price" or maybe no "bride price" and they were waiting to hear back from her family. Martha was so excited. If they could get married, Martha would be able to get baptized!!
Sister Judd, Sister Najjuka, Martha (with her daughter), Sister Lautaimi, Vivian, and Claudia
On Saturday afternoons we go with Sisters Tavita and Appia.
Sister Tavita helping make banku (a mixture of cassava dough and corn dough). Elder Judd teaching the Plan of Salvation to a new investigator.
Sunday (January 26) was a very long day. We had planned to go to our church meetings. On Saturday evening, we both got the "feeling" that we should go to the Dabanyin Branch instead. Then Sunday morning, we received a phone call from President Sam, the first counselor in the mission presidency, asking us to prepare for him information on baptisms in 2024 in the Ojobi area and a list of established members of the church in Ojobi. He was to meet with the Wiinneba Stake President that afternoon to discuss the possibility of creating a group or maybe a branch in Ojobi. The members in Ojobi currently are part of the Awutu Breku Branch. We got the baptism information from Sister Lautaimi. The branch president in the Dabanyin Branch actually lives in Ojobi. So, since we were in Dabanyin, we were able to sit down with President Adjei-Fio and put together the list of members that President Sam needed. If we had not been in Dabanyin, it would have need difficult to prepare this list. It is just another small "miracle" of how the Lord is in the details.
We attended Sacrament Meeting in Dabanyin and met with President Adjei-Fio after regarding the list of members in Ojobi. Then we hurried back to Awutu Breku to teach temple preparation to five members there after the meetings block. We went home and grabbed a quick bite to eat. Then, we drove back to Dabanyin to pick up President Adjei-Fio. We had previously made arrangements with him to drive him around to visit some of the members of the Dabanyin Branch.
The first member we went to visit was the branch Relief Society president. She had built a new chicken coop and wanted to have it dedicated by the priesthood. She lives some 3 or 4 miles out in the bush. When we got there, we had a good visit with her. In addition to laying chickens to sell eggs, she also has laying ducks to sell their eggs, and rabbits which she sells to people to eat.
President Adjei-Fio and then Sister Judd holding one of Sister Lucy's rabbits.
President Adjei-Fio asked Elder Judd to perform the dedication. Here are the Judd's, President Adjei-Fio, Sister Lucy, and two of her children following the dedication of her new chicken coop.
We then visited a new convert who had not been to church for a few weeks. After that we visited one of the counselors in the branch Relief Society presidency who took us to her shop in the potato and onion market where she sells water and drinks so it could be dedicated also. The last visit was with a young family who has not been attending church. They live quite a distance away, and the cost of getting to church may be part of the problem. We had a good visit and encouraged them to save up so they could go to church at least once a month in order to partake of the Sacrament.
The family home is comprised of the entryway/kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom. None of these is very big. But, it is a larger and more accommodating home than most. They have a propane stove with an oven. Most of the families we interact with cook over a wood or charcoal fire.
The family
On Monday (January 27), we were able to catch up on things some. In the afternoon, we helped a sister recover her Church account so she could access information she needed for her church calling and to do Family History.
Tuesday was another long day. We drove two hours to Odoben to attend the missionary district council meeting.
Odoben district council with Elders Norwood, Karenzi, Stewart, Navarro, Phetha, Mutombo,
Ellis, Tanner, Basoah, Watkins, and Shook
Wednesday is apartment inspection day. This time we went to Bawjiase, Asamakese, and Asamanketewa.
Elders Mpessa and Lukhele in Bawjiase
Elders Mpangala and Otshudi in Asamankese
Elders Tannahill and Crawley in Asamanketewa
Sister and President Jacobsen scheduled a Sisters Conference for Thursday, January 30 for all the sister missionaries. A couple of weeks ago, Sister Jacobsen asked Sister Judd to do a presentation at the Sisters Conference on "Deepening Lifelong Conversion through Sincere Personal Study." She prayed and stressed and read and prayed and prepared and prayed!!! She had prepared a PowerPoint slide show. She was very anxious about it all. Elder Judd gave her a priesthood blessing on Wednesday evening, and she had a sleepless night. But, when she got up to do the presentation, she was able to turn it over to the Lord and talk from her heart and with the Spirit.
The amazing sisters of the Ghana Accra West Mission!
Sisters Appia, Kendrick, and Van der Beek were excited to see Sister Judd
While Elder Judd was visiting with John, he noticed their daughter, Patience, cooking something and went to say "Hi" to her. She was cooking small fish that would then be eaten with the banku she had already prepared. The yellow item in her right hand is used to fan the coals to produce more heat as she moves the fish around with her left hand so they cook evenly.
This shows a "stove" like what most everyone around where we live uses to cook on. This is like the one Patience was using.
Sunday was another full Sabbath day starting with attending Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School in Awutu Breku. After the meetings block, we taught Charity, Dorcas, Anita, Joycelyn, and Evans about temples in the Old Testament, New Testament, and Book of Mormon and then reviewed the temple recommend questions to prepare them to go to the temple. We drove to Rihanna and Abraham's house to teach and answer Abraham's questions about the temple to help prepare him. Rihanna received her endowments a little over a year ago. Now Abraham will receive his endowments, and then they can prepare to be sealed as a family. We next drove over the hill into Ojobi to take some white shirts and dress pants to President Adjei-Fio for him to give to some of the young men in his branch who do not have any. President Adjei-Fio had asked us to watch for shirts and pants as we do missionary apartment inspections. Sometimes we find some, and a lot of the time we do not. Wednesday morning, Elder Judd prayed specifically that we might find some clothes in the missionary apartments we would be inspecting that day. Tender mercy of the Lord! There were a lot of pants and white shirts that we came home with! We then gave President Adjei-Fio a ride to the Tro-tro and taxi station in Awutu Breku so he could go to Buduburam. We then drove to Helena Gamor's to give her some cinnamon she had asked for and to tell her that her son, Phillip, would make certain she and John were given the Sacrament. We were finally able to go home!!
Here are some odds and ends:
The door handle of the back door of a Tro-tro broke off, and it was replaced with a wrench welded on!
The sisters decided they wanted some coconuts from the tree in our compound. Sister Lautaimi carried the heavy ladder to the tree with Sister Appia's help. Sister Tavita climbed up and got the coconuts and then dropped them to Sister Lautaimi.
One thing we have seen several times now is a person (man or woman) walking around with a hand turned sewing machine on his or her head and ringing a small bell. Someone who needs a piece of clothing repaired will stop them, show them what needs to be fixed, and the person does the repair on the spot.
In fast and testimony meeting on Sunday, a new convert named Sampson got up and bore his testimony as to the truthfulness of the gospel and the Book of Mormon. He then said, "God might be late in your timetable, but He is always on time." So much truth in this simple statement! It is not about us. It is about Him and what He knows is best for us. It is about having trust in Him and His timetable. It is about faith in Him, not in an outcome. It is about acknowledging that God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. God lives!! Jesus is the Christ!! They love and intimately know each and every one of us/you!
Love,
Sister and Elder Judd
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